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Records of the African American constituency group of the (old) Mennonite Church. Emerging from the Minority Ministries Council, the African American Mennonite Association began its orginizational life as the Black Council or Black Caucus.  In the early 1980s the name was changed to the African American Mennonite Association (AAMA).  The AAMA strove to support black and racially integrated congregations in the (old) Mennonite Church through annual assemblies and programming, leadership training, educational opportunites, and congregational economic development.

Records are divided into the following series:

(1) Founding and Governing Documents

(2) Assemblies and Events

(3) Dockets and Minutes

(4) Photographs

(5) Educational Program Records

(6) Correspondence and Subject Files

(7) Sound Recordings

The Larks' personal papers consist primarily of documentation from the churches they led in African American and urban communities, including Bethel Mennonite Church in Chicago.  Materials include church bulletins, congregational records, correspondence,  and photographs.

Personal papers of an African American Mennonite minister who worked to combat racism in the (old) Mennonite Church and the Mennonite Church USA.  Powell served as executive secretary of the Minority Ministries Council from 1969 to 1974.  He left the church in 1974 vowing never to return.  After ministering in several other denominations, he decided to return to the Mennonite Church as the director of evangelism and church development in the Mennonite Board of Missions.

His personal papers primarily document his involvement with AFRAM (African Afro-Americas Inter-Mennonite Unity Conference), a "Mini-World Conference" that focused on "world-wide Black concerns."  Other materials in his papers include documents pertaining to his work as executive secretary of the Minority Ministries Council, his involvement in the Cross Cultural Youth Convention and the Soul and Spirit Interracial Couples Retreat.  Researchers will also find correspondence and essays by Powell.

This collection is divided into two series:  (1) Research Files, 1950-1982, and (2) James and Rowena Lark Materials, 1949-2007.

Records of a department of the Mennonite Board of Missions that worked to strengthen and support racial and ethnic minority congregations, to assist the church in relating to minority communities, to serve as liaison between militant groups and the church, and to help the church understand and practice the radical discipleship of Jesus Christ. Materials include council minutes and publications, photographs, and correspondence and subject files of minority council leaders.